


The Maiden in Red and the Wolf in Your Bed

by red_wicked



Category: Hannibal (TV), Hannibal Lecter Series - All Media Types
Genre: F/F, Female Hannibal, Female Will Graham, Hannah Belle Lecter, Hannah Belle as Red Riding Hood, Willow Graham, Willow as the Wolf
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-15
Updated: 2016-10-15
Packaged: 2018-08-22 14:50:38
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,341
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8289746
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/red_wicked/pseuds/red_wicked
Summary: When Grimm fairy tales and Hannibal have a love child.There was never a thing in these woods, animal or other, that could make one hair on her golden head ruffle in fear. This however, was a sight that for some reason made the dust in the palace of her mind tremble. It was a short tremble, barely visible. But it was there.	What are you?	She welcomed the moment they would collide. Whatever this creature was, it would be a splendid match of strengths. A challenge she didn't even come close to feeling for decades.	The collision never happened. The woman was on her back, letting out an undignified howl. Blunt nails pulling at a collar on the pale column of her neck.





	

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Hello. I do hope this oddity brings enjoyment to someone out there. Do leave a comment, if you will. Also, if anyone would like to beta-read this, that would be great.

Act I - The scent of a Wolf

 

 **"F** ear makes the **w** olf bigger than **she** is." German Proverb

 

Her cloak was the shade of tired blood. It heaved in the breeze of fall.   
Her hair glowed golden, it reflected every yellowing leaf in the dusky forest. She found a particular beauty in the slow death of nature. It also offered a particular kind of comfort, the tedious wheel of time. Things happened a certain way, and she could see their direction. Mostly, they went in the way she desired them to go.

This path, these woods were so familiar the sole of her feet was acquainted with every stone, and every bump she could come across. The wheel of time spun the world, and changed it slowly, surely. It smelled of summer burning away, of raw decay and... fear?

She halted. The leaves always smelled desperate in the fall, it was all the frightened creatures, that had no choice but to be abhor the oncoming winter. This was different, this was not the expected fear of change. It wasn't the dull smell of animals scrambling for cover. And it wasn't a smell of animals fighting either. This was deep, raw. It smelled both acrid and burnt at the same time. It was the most complex scent she ever had the fortune to whiff. It smelled delicious.

Suddenly, without any preamble, she _coveted_.

The other senses quickly joined in the game. Her ears rang with a howl, and her eyes narrowed with rapt interest on two dark figures between the trees. The woods were dense, no man dared touch this part of the forest with an axe. One was hunched over in a run, the other followed with quickened but calculated steps from a short distance. If her vision was lesser, or indeed even normal by human measures, she might’ve mistakenly identified the hunched over one as a feral animal. What indeed reeked of a primal sort of animalism, was for all intents and purposes the shape of a woman. A woman that was sprinting straight towards her.  
The scent intensified. The woman’s jet black hair was flowing in violent curls behind her. Her blue eyes sparkled with savage gleam.   
She was still, even with the raging woman heading towards her. There was never a thing in these woods, animal or other, that could make one hair on her golden head ruffle in fear. This however, was a sight that for some reason made the dust in the palace of her mind tremble. It was a short tremble, barely visible. But it was there.

  
_What are you?_

She welcomed the moment they would collide. Whatever this creature was, it would be a splendid match of strengths. A challenge she didn’t even come close to feeling for decades. A few feet away the woman crunched and prepared herself to a final launch. All of her muscles were flexed and tense.  
The collision never happened. The woman was on her back, letting out an undignified howl. Blunt nails pulling at a collar on the pale column of her neck.

“Willow!” The voice was booming. Familiar, too. The man rushed to the woman’s side. His hands were rolling up a rope connected to her neck. “Willow, I need you to snap out of it! You are Willow Graham, you are in the Chesapeake Woods, it is 5 in the afternoon. You are not a beast anymore.” The man spoke with a voice that was rarely, or perhaps never contradicted. What he said sounded almost as reverent as a prayer of punishment.  
Willow looked into the man’s face. Her eyes were glazed over and confused, soon her gaze wandered to the her, the woman she almost attacked. Willow did not make eye contact, and turned her head in a defiant whim.

She decided that not moving might look odd in such a situation so she turned to the man.  
“Constable Jack Crawford,” she spoke in controlled, mild manner, “It is good to see you, again. Though I must admit I did not expect to find you in such circumstances..”  
The man turned to her, secure in his knowledge that Willow seemed subdued.   
“Priestess Lecter,” his manner was polite, though somewhat tense, “I must apologize for Willow, she’s in training, but evidently there are some issues we are experiencing.”   
Willow stood up and dusted herself off, she stared at the rope Jack was holding demurely. The man with a nervous and uncertain gesture snapped off her collar.  
“Priestess Lecter, this is Willow Graham,” Jack stared down Willow in an attempt to nudge the appropriate social action out of her, “Willow is our newest hunter. Willow, this is High Priestess Hannah Belle Lecter.”  
When one was introduced to a member of the Clergy, it was a norm of society to kiss their hands, or at the very least bow as deeply as one could. Willow made eye contact with Hannah Belle for the first time. Her face hinted she knew of this custom, her eyes were simply saying ‘no’.  
Hannah Belle could feel her lips twitch. She   
“A true pleasure to meet you,” Hannah Belle extended her hand, taking pleasure in the fact that Willow didn't seem to want to take it. She took it eventually. Her hands were a rough contrast to Hannah’s smooth ones. Hannah could feel a subtle magnetism flashing between their touch. This determined her to hold her hand longer than it was necessary. “Though I must say I rarely get acquainted with people in such specific circumstances.”  
Jack decided to make his presence recognized once again.  
“Willow here has a singular set of skills in monster hunting. You were unfortunate enough to be in the middle of one of her empathy runs. There’s a monster out there we are trying to catch, and Willow is our best shot to perceive this monster.”  
Hannah Belle was nodding, and tried to stop the smirk that threatened her own face, as Willow was studiously, but somewhat angrily avoiding eye contact with her.  
“Not a fan of eye contact, Missis Graham?”  
“It’s Miss. Or just Graham,” she looked at Hannah Belle, then reverted her gaze to the ground, “And no. Not a fan.”  
There was a moment of silence, Jack was on the verge of intervening. Surprisingly, Willow continued.  
“You’re a priestess. You know how much the eye can hold. One gleam and one can know the other has the monsters behind the pools of their irises. A narrowing of pupils and one can see the worst nightmares reflected. So no, not a fan.”  
For a moment Hannah Belle felt her every instinct prepared to take on an attack mode. The nervous twitch of the other woman’s hands was telling her that she did not necessarily perceive her as she was.  
“Yours or others?”   
Willow huffed out a dismissive laugh.   
“Are you trying to read my soul? You won’t like it.”   
“You seem awfully certain of that.”  
She watched as Willow bit her lower lip in a self-deprecating smile, and stayed conspicuously silent. There was a tremor in her movements, an agitation both fearful and menacing. Willow stared at the trees pointedly, hoping to convey that this interaction was over for her.  
“Willow, when she gets into this trance, she becomes something else,” Jack tried to explain somewhat nervously, “That’s why... uh.” He became silent and gestured softly with the rope. “Yeah.”  
  
Hannah Belle nodded in understanding.

**_Chain a monster and make it dance for other monsters._ **

Without a word Willow started on a path deeper in the woods. She turned shakily after a few steps, her legs evidently betraying some of her defiance. Jack bowed deeply, apologized again and fell into a purposeful step with her. With a final look, Willow bowed slightly. The glint in her eye betrayed that at least in some part the gesture was meant to mock.

Hannah Belle returned the bow with a smile. Somewhere in her Mind Palace a a single chord of a melody vibrated. Mighty and resolute.


End file.
